An Adams woman pleaded not guilty to theft and swindling charges after allegedly receiving $29,868.50 through a fraudulent check from a Canadian produce company she claimed was inheritance.

Lisa Marie Sheehan, 52, pleaded not guilty to three counts of felony theft by swindle and three counts of felony check forgery in Mower County District Court on Monday. She was arrested this spring on the charges.

According to the court report, Sheehan first visited Edward Jones in December claiming that she was receiving a large inheritance and wanted to invest it. She brought in the check a month later, from “D’Arrigo Bros. Co. of New York,” and it was deposited into an Edward Jones account, then into a Wells Fargo account. After Sheehan had already withdrawn the funds, Wells Fargo then notified the advisor that the check had been stolen from a Canadian produce company. The advisor tried unsuccessfully to contact Sheehan.

Police contacted Sheehan on March 3, who claimed she received the check from her boyfriend. She said he was from California, had never met him, and that he was in Germany trying to fix a mistake made by his father’s estate. She said a new check would “clear things up.”

Police made an unsuccessful attempt to contact Sheehan on March 14 and found little money in her Wells Fargo account after executing a search warrant on it.

Her records showed she had withdrawn all of the money in the three days after the check was deposited.

Adams Police arrested Sheehan two weeks later.

During an interview at the Mower County Jail, Sheehan claimed her boyfriend told her everything was handled and that he was the one who transferred the money from her Edward Jones account to her Wells Fargo account because she gave him the personal information so he could “hook” the accounts.

When asked about the money, Sheehan claimed she withdrew the cash and mailed it to “Steve something” in California. She said she was told the money was being invested so she and her boyfriend could get married, but she received no money or other benefit from the transaction.

Sheehan also said her boyfriend told her not to get the police involved.

Police executed a search warrant on Sheehan’s home and found bank statements from Accentra Credit Union and United Farmers State Bank. Sheehan later stated she had accounts with United Farmers, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo and Accentra.

The report also states that Sheehan allegedly deposited an altered check from Bakkavor Foods USA Inc. in the sum of $25,965 and an altered check from Cooper Tires in the sum of $46,922.92 into the Accentra account. The Cooper Tires check came back as fraudulent and no loss occurred. There was a documented withdrawal of $18,000 from the Bakkavor Foods check. Bakkavor Foods USA Inc. has since filed a “Declarations of Claimant on misused check” form, as did Deloitte Tax LLP, the intended recipient of the check.

Sheehan also told police she made a deposit of $24,000 to the U.S. Bank account, $18,000 of which was withdrawn and mailed at her boyfriend’s request.

Sheehan is scheduled to go to trial in November.